The Fifth Meeting of the Subregional Investment Working Group (SIWG5) was held on 13-14 October 2005 at the Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The key objectives of the meeting were to: (i) review and discuss the progress of the initiatives made since the previous meeting; (ii) exchange information and ideas about facilitating investments into the member countries and the region as a whole; and (iii) establish the near and medium term future directions and priorities of the SIWG.

The fledgling Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Journal for Development Studies, published under the auspices of the Phnom Penh Plan (PPP) for Development Management, moves a step ahead with the second issue. In what might be considered as "ascending steps," GMS scholarship is moving forward, slowly but surely. The PPP's commitment is to ensure that we continue to make strides towards our goal of bridging the gap between research and capacity building and to propagate the gospel of balanced socioeconomic development in the GMS.

The Fourth Meeting of the Regional Power Trade Coordination Committee (RPTCC-4) was held in Yangon, Myanmar on 21-22 September 2005. The Meeting was co-organized by the Ministry of Electric Power (MOEP) of the Union of Myanmar and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The Third Meeting of the Regional Power Trade Coordination Committee (RPTCC-3) was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 7-8 April. The Meeting was co-organized by the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts (MIH) of Lao PDR and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The Special Meeting of the Trade Facilitation Working Group (TWFG) was held at ADB Headquarters, Manila, Philippines on 25-26 April 2005. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Robert Boumphrey, Director of the Governance, Finance and Trade Division of ADB's Mekong Department. Seventeen officials from the commerce, trade, customs, immigration and quarantine agencies of the six GMS countries as well as ADB staff participated in the Meeting.